Olympic Post a Day 11: Hockey Game and Golden Moments

20022010

Yesterday I took my wife’s sister Tara to a hockey game, Sweden vs. Belarus. Seeing Sweden is exciting, as some of the greatest Vancouver Canucks in the last decade are from Sweden, and in many ways, they are the other home team during the Olympics.

As has been the case with many of the men’s game, this ended up being much closer than one would have predicted if just looking at the line-ups on paper (see Canada / Swiss shoot-out, Russia-Latvia shoot-out). Sweden won 4-2, but when Belarus scored in the 3rd to make it 3-2, and were pressing hard, the stadium was swept into a frenzy. Many people, including me, switched loyalties and hoped for a full Belarus upset. But in the final seconds, the Sedin twins did what they do best – cycle the puck, create space, and setup the open man infront of the net. Great hockey game. Next one is Sweden – Finland on Sunday night.

Sweden - Belarus

From there, we did what many Vancouverites and tourists are doing – wander around everywhere, soaking it in. Saw new torch setup and an interview with Canadian Bronze Medalist. We didn’t head into anything as the lineups were crazy. Certainly, you can only really get into 1 – 2 events a day.

Chad and Tara at the Flame

Spring Cherry Blossoms in February!

Closer to the Flame (they moved the fence up)

Canada Medalist

A few of the hundreds of Inukshuks along False Creek

I think the Russian mascot?

Canada also won its fourth gold medal. Here is my summary of “where were you” when they one each of these.

1 – Alex Bilodeau (Moguls) – This was the most exciting, Canada’s first Gold ever won on home soil. This happened on Valentine’s Day, and I was walking with my wife from Waterfront to the Flame. While this sounds like a cliché, we literally found out by a guy screaming from a rooftop of a nearby building, “Canada wins Gold! Canada wins Gold!” The entire street erupted! We pasted our faces against the glass walls of a local café to watch the reply and his reaction.

2 – Maelle Ricker (Snowboard Cross) 3- Christine Nesbitt (Speed Skating) – These are grouped together because the story of me seeing these is the same. Both times, I was in a pub waiting the Canadian Men’s Hockey game to start, and Canada won Gold. I must say, every bar owner in town must love it when that happens, as everyone starts to celebrate even more, usually with shots or another jug of beer.

4 – Jon Montegomery (Skeleton) – This was a weird one. I was headed to my team’s hockey game on Friday night, wishing instead I was at the Deadmau5 concert. Walking into the arena, the TV was on and broadcasted, “Canada has another Golden moment.” Very inspiring way to lead into our hockey game… which we went on to lose 9 – 1.